Piping
by Crying Rivers
Summary: Cress didn't understand exactly why he'd taken the book from the antique store, it just sort of…happened.


Cress didn't understand exactly _why _he'd taken the book from the antique store, it just sort of…happened.

The old hardback sat warmly in his hands on what, otherwise, was a chilly day. He tucked the black and red bound book under his arm and thought back to how he'd gotten it that morning.

He'd just been taking a stroll, one to psyche him up for another day of work at the cafe, when he saw a red glow from the corner of his eye. Thinking it was nothing, he'd begun walking along again, only for the red glow to insist upon his attention once more. Cress turned around, confused to find no one behind him, not even the old clerk from the antique store he'd been walking by.

And then he saw it in the window. For some reason it caught his attention, like it was calling him. He walked in to examine it closer, without smudging the old clerk's window, tinkling the bells and alerting the coot to his presence. The clerk, seeing Cress' interest in the book, told him some lengthy tale about how it was "foreign" and how it was "special" because "No one from here to the far ends of Kanto could open it" and such other sales pitches that Cress was used to, having used them himself.

Still, there was something about this book that had caught his eye, so he'd bought it anyway.

Now, walking into the restaurant doors, he pulled the book from under his arms once again and stared at its cover. The tiny green jewel in the front shone, almost as in greeting. Cress then carried it into the kitchen with him and sat it on the table. He went to retrieve a chair before he opened its pages, lest he get immersed in something he hadn't necessarily planned to.

He fingered the cover for a minute, running his digits over the green jewel and the round, bright red rings encircling it, all of which seemed warm, almost hot, despite the frigid air.

Maybe he would take to reading it now, he thought, smiling to himself. Cilan and Chili were still sleeping. It would be at least an hour before Cilan got up, and Chili would probably trail behind thirty minutes later when he realized no one was in bed with him, so it wasn't like there was no time.

Cress, having made his decision, then took a deep breath, not really knowing why, he was just reading, and grabbed the corner of the book. He opened to the first page and his face fell.

It was all in Japanese.

The old coot hadn't been lying, it was foreign, foreign and unreadable.

Cress stood up from the table. His anticipation had been disappointed and he would not let anything else be wasted on this book today. He walked out of the room, miffed, and went to reorganizing the books in the bookcase t find more suitable reading for today.

Dusting off an old Pokemon encyclopedia, he walked back into the kitchen and pulled out his chair, sitting down with a huff, and threw the new book open.

"I see I wasn't suitable reading for you"

Cress cringed.

That wasn't his brother's voice.

That wasn't his other brother's voice, either.

Someone had snuck in and there was nothing he could do about it.

He lifted his hands over his head and turned slowly, eyes screwed shut.

"Please don't kill me or my brothers, our money's in another room I swear"

There was a moment of silence, and then a chuckle came from the intruder….

Not a chuckle. This was a laugh. Cress was being laughed at.

He opened his eyes immediately and slammed his hands down to his thighs, ignoring that he'd hurt himself, because he wouldn't stand for being mocked. He was going to see who was here and he was going to take care of it.

It was then he got his first look at the boy in his kitchen. Not a man, a boy. They stood roughly the same height, the teen somewhat shorter, easy to take on if he decided to get rough. His hair was red, his bangs long, longer sections hanging near his hers, and he wore the most ridiculous skin tight outfit Cress had ever seen, draped over in a silly black cape.

It was then he saw the green jewel, pinned near the boy's shoulder and holding the cape together.

"You're the.." he started, putting two and two together.

"Yes, I'm the book you thought suitable enough to replace with an encyclopedia" the boy interrupted, dusting his harms.

Cress couldn't believe it. Well he could, stranger had happened, but that all at least seemed like it had been led up to, and not just random occurrences. He put his hands to his head and leaned over in his chair, suddenly wishing his brothers really were awake, or at least that he was dreaming.

"So" the book snorted "this is your kitchen?" the redhead took a short walk around it, occasionally looking in cupboards and rubbing the counters.

"oh"

_Oh? _Cress' face ran hot. Freaky magic book or not, Cress' kitchen deserved more than an oh, it at least deserved an "its nice"

"Excuse you?"

The book turned around, one eyebrow raised, in response to the challenge.

"And what do you think you're doing here?" Cress continued, walking toward the book now, visibly irritated. "You think you can do better? You really do? This is my castle, sir, and if you really want to browse and pickout than you'd be better suited for a library." The book smirked.

"This is your _castle? _Wow, I'd hate to see your kingdom, even a peasant shouldn't live like this"

Cress fumed.

"What kind of book are you anyway, some sort of Japanese guide to tackiness?"

"I'm a Nomicon, sir. A _ninja _Nomicon"

"Ah, so you're like my vegetable cutter only less sharp."

The Nomicon grunted, puffing a piece of hair out of its face. He leaned back on the table, pushing it slightly out of place, to Cress' dismay, but he refused to show it.

The Nomicon looked around the kitchen, noticing it to be rather large.

"So…I'm guessing this is a restaurant …possibly…"

"Yes, it is" Cress beamed, temporarily lost in pride for his work. "People come all over to eat here-"

"I see so there's a famine and you're hoarding, gotcha"

Cress ignored the dig and continued.

"My brothers and I run this thing together, and dare I say I'm actually proud of them."

The Nomicon grew silent for a moment, looking almost sad. Cress watched the young boy, the red head's cocky demeanor falling, tugging his cape covered shoulders with it. It would seem they'd both made similar gestures, as Cress could feel the corners of his mouth fall as well, a bit in pity, as though he knew exactly what was going on yet not at all.

He went and patted the Nomicon on his shoulder, the boy flinching at first but then relaxing under the touch. Cress wouldn't ask what happened, he didn't really need to. He'd had brothers himself.

Cress went to the fridge and pulled out a couple of cakes from the day before. They weren't exactly fresh, but they were very well still good and he slid one to the Nomicon after taking up a fork for himself.

He gestured for the seemingly younger boy that it was his to eat, and the Nomicon complied. They sat there eating together, in silence a sort f pact reached. Cress had never seen someone so small with such an appetite, it was almost as though the boy hadn't eaten in centuries.

After finishing their plates (or well Cress after his, the Nomicon had finished long before and even started on a second piece) the two chatted idly, learning small things about each other. Cress learned the Nomicon liked to be referred to as Nomi, and Nomi learned that Cress was of a set of triplets, and seemed to quietly reflect on that information as well.

Laughing at something silly about fish, the Cress walked out of the room shortly to take care of an issue in the bathroom. When he returned, however, Nomi was gone, the book back in place on thetable.

Cress was saddened for a moment, and fingered the green gem in the middle once again, just as fondly as before. He then opened the front page, to see a new message, the only one in English, written in bright neon letters.

"Your cake sucks"

The book was back to the shop before Cilan even opened his eyes.

—

Occasionally, on his morning walk, on chilly days, Cress would walk by the old antique shop window, and there would be the Nomicon, just as warm as when he found it. It almost seemed to glow brighter when he walked by, like a silent hello.

Of course one day he came by and it wasn't there anymore. He was sad to see it go, but maybe it would go to some kid, some kid that needed a brother or just someone to look after him.

Who knew, the ninja Nomicon might actually be with a ninja.

* * *

**The Nomicon featured here is based off of ChihuahuaRocks' rendition of Notnights' human Nomicon design, as featured in the fanfic "Enter the Nomicon."**

**The idea came bout when I was talking to a friend and we both came to the conclusion that the Nomicon and Cress cold have a sass off.**


End file.
